Duchenne UK's INNOVATE grant call

Duchenne UK announces a Million Pound Grant Call for Research Projects for Treatments of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne UK is pleased to announce the launch of its ‘Innovate’ Grant Call, and invites proposals for funding projects up to £1million, dedicated to finding new treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

This call is being commissioned by Duchenne UK, a patient organisation based in the UK, with a global reach. Duchenne UK has an impressive track record in supporting research aimed at accelerating effective treatments for DMD.

In the recent past, Duchenne UK co-funded the Phase I trial for Vamorolone, now in Phase II, and supported the development of SGT-001, the gene therapy being developed by Solid Biosciences.

Ongoing projects range across the spectrum from pre-clinical experiments to supporting clinical trials, including developing outcome measures, and on to economic modelling and re-imbursement.

This call aims to identify drug development projects that are ready for trial, with compelling pre-clinical data, including data in animals, or have the potential to be in clinical trials within a 2 – 5 year timeframe.

"Supporting and accelerating innovative research is at the heart of what we do at Duchenne UK. We're particularly keen to support projects that have a clear pathway to clinical trials.”

The Director of Research and Patient Engagement, Naomi Litchfield says

"We are excited at the prospect of working with members of the research community with original, ground breaking ideas for treating DMD and very much look forward to seeing their proposals."

How to apply:

To apply, please send an outline proposal for the research including all relevant background information, a budget, and a milestone-driven timeline. The proposal should clearly identify the participating researchers and the location for the research.

Applications should be received by Friday 4th May 2018. Shortlisted applicants will be required to complete a TACT application. The successful candidates will be requested to present to TACT at the next available meeting, likely to be in July 2018.

The TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT) is a unique multi-disciplinary international group of world-recognized academic and industry drug development experts as well as representatives of patient foundations, regulators and institutional governmental scientific research centres: http://www.treat-nmd.eu/resources/tact/introduction/

The proposals should be sent to Naomi Litchfield, Director of Research and Patient Engagement: [email protected]

NOTES FOR EDITORS

What is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disease diagnosed in childhood. Children born with DMD cannot produce the protein dystrophin which is vital for muscle strength and function. Muscle weakness starts in early childhood. Many use a wheelchair by around the age of 12. As deterioration continues it leads to paralysis and early death, often in their 20s. It almost exclusively affects boys. There is no treatment or cure. In the UK there are around 2,500 boys affected and around 300, 000 worldwide. It is classified as a rare disease.

Who are Duchenne UK?

Duchenne UK is a lean, ambitious and highly focused charity with a clear vision: to fund and accelerate treatments and a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The charity has been formed by the coming together of Joining Jack and Duchenne Children's Trust, the two biggest funders of research in the UK in the last three years. Its president is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Its patrons include the broadcasters Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Mary Nightingale, and the sports stars Owen Farrell, Kris Radlinski and Andy Farrell.

How to donate?

Duchenne UK is entirely reliant on donations to fund research for treatments and a cure to DMD. This can be done via:

Summit Therapeutics plc have announced positive 24-week interim data from PhaseOut DMD, their Phase 2 clinical trial of the utrophin modulator ezutromid. The data showed a significant reduction in muscle damage and an increase in utrophin in muscle biopsies.

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Our co-founders Alex Johnson and Emily Crossley met after their sons were diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They both set up charities, Alex with Joining Jack, Emily with the Duchenne Children’s Trust.

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